Hong Kong’s New Brew Scene: A Barrel of Challenges

Craft brewing duo Luke and Duncan Yardley hawk their craft beer every Saturday from their beer shack found along a hiking trail on Lamma island, a popular weekend retreat in Hong Kong.
Photo:
Jonathan Kornberg

Take Luke and Duncan Yardley. Hong Kong’s stratospheric real-estate costs forced the British siblings to set up their brewery on a commercial building’s fifth floor, where the rent was cheaper. That presented a problem of commercial visibility on this crowded island archipelago.

But it also meant the Yardleys had to lug huge fermentation tanks up stairs with the help of eight friends because the equipment wouldn’t fit in the elevator. The brothers, who were on a tight budget, also laid their own tiles, wired the electricity and built the bar.

“That’s how we burn off all the beer we drink,” said Luke.

Hong Kong’s hand-crafted brew sector, at least a decade behind its counterparts in the U.S., Britain, Japan and elsewhere, is catching up with a vengeance.

Hong Kong now hosts about 13 craft breweries around the city from none just seven years ago, according to the Craft Beer Association of Hong Kong. There are now about 35 bars focused on serving such home brew, with over 120 bars which sell both commercial beer and local craft brews. In addition, Hong Kong now hosts several craft beer festivals, with the biggest being Beertopia, launched in 2012.

A new report by Savills, a global real-estate services provider, finds that the craft surge in Hong Kong is even contributing to a downturn of traditional Hong Kong bars.

The Yardleys aren’t the only startup facing the hardship of Hong Kong real-estate costs, which are consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive.

Prices prompted Kowloon Bay, a new local brewery, not only to set up on the 10th floor of a building but to manage with a compact space—about 1,000 square feet, presenting the challenge of where to fit the equipment.

Further, the costs of production in Hong Kong are far higher than in the U.S. or U.K. because brewers have to import key ingredients like hops and barley, Ms. Van said.

Other features of Hong Kong craft breweries set them apart from their counterparts abroad.

Moonzen beer, founded by Mexico-born Laszlo Raphaël and his Hong Kong wife Michele, draws inspiration for its unique flavors from Chinese mythology.

“I wanted to start a brewery that did not only fill a gap but also incorporated cultural elements such as Chinese astronomy and folklore,” said Laszlo Raphaël, brewmaster of Moonzen beer.

For example, one of their beers, “Monkey king,” is named after the eponymous mythological figure. The brewers say they embodied the cheeky monkey by imbuing the booze with caramel and hints of peaches and apricot.

The Ale Project, a Hong Kong bar which specializes in local brews, advertises its environmentally-friendly 'growler,' a reusable jug that can be filled with fresh beer and taken off the premises.
Photo:
Kimaya De Silva/The Wall Street Journal

“Each beer has a different character, it’s so interesting,” said Brian Cheng, a Hong Konger who was recently enjoying some brews at The Ale Project, a bar which specializes in local beers, situated in the Mongkok commercial area.

Surrounded by a packed crowd of beer fans, he said the beer cost only about 10% more than mass-market beer such as Carlsberg and Heineken.

The craft-beer craze began predominantly among expats, who sought brews that reminded them of home, but it has gradually shifted to a more diverse and local clientele, say people involved in the industry.

The Yardley brothers came to Hong Kong from the U.K. Duncan, 33 years old, and Luke, 30, were formerly teachers of business and kindergarten respectively, with short stints in dance instruction.

In Hong Kong, they began brewing at home, serving their creations to friends and family. They’ve since grown to the point where they’re selling about 60 kegs per month. Each keg holds 1,014 fluid ounces and retails for between 3,750 and 6,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$483-US$773).

Every Saturday, the duo hawk their beer along a hiking trail on Lamma Island, a popular weekend island retreat in Hong Kong that is home to a few thousand people.

From a homemade bar made of corrugated iron, the duo call out to passerbyers in broken Cantonese, to sample their brew.

“People are surprisingly eager to taste our beer,” said Luke, “We have people from all walks of life including lots of mainland Chinese tourists.”

– Kimaya De Silva

Corrections & Amplifications:

The photograph accompanying this item is credited to Jonathan Kornberg. An earlier version of this item incorrectly credited the photograph to the Yardley brothers. In addition, the Yardley brothers’ kegs of beer retail for between 3,750 and 6,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$483-US$773). An earlier version of this item incorrectly said the kegs retailed for HK$1,350 (US$174). (Aug. 15, 2016)

People may get the mistaken impression from this article that before seven years ago, there hadn't been any craft breweries in Hong Kong. This wasn't the case.

South China Seas Brewing (now known as Hong Kong Beer Co.) opened in 1995. In 1997, East End Brewery launched in Quarry Bay and MC² Media Cafe opened in the basement of the Miramar Shopping Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, complete with its German-imported brewhouse and brewer.

What looked like a promising beginning, however, stalled and then faded. Hong Kong Beer Co. went from craft to more mainstream. East End stopped brewing and transformed from a brewpub into a restaurant. MC² closed.

It wasn't until 2010 when the next craft beer venture launched. Typhoon Brewery opened in Mui Wo on Lantau Island. However, it was a part-time affair by a moonlighting Cathay Pacific pilot. So, again, it didn't have enough legs to go beyond supplying the odd place, like The Globe, with Real Ale.